Mugabe backers beat foes in Zimbabwe

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JOHANNESBURG — Brigades of youth militia, and older men claiming to have served in the civil war of the 1970s, have descended on rural areas of Zimbabwe, beating villagers and burning their homes, according to eyewitnesses reached by phone.

The violence, thought to have been ordered by President Robert Mugabe, has been seen in areas where the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won in the March 29 election.

In the Murehwa district, 30 miles east of the capital, Harare, MDC officials say hundreds of people, including old women and children as young as 5, have been beaten with clubs.

"Stores that put up posters for the MDC have been forced to shut," MDC local organizer Peter Chitate said from Murehwa.

"Some of these thugs are armed, and they are targeting anyone who acted as a polling officer for the opposition or helped with the rallies. It is terrible; there are injured people everywhere.

"My own brother, Silas, has been beaten across his back with iron poles. He can"t move, and the local clinic has been ordered not to treat him. There are many like him, and we have taken photos so that no one can deny it."

Similar reports from other parts of the country were released by the MDC head office in Harare and by the mostly white Commercial Farmers' Union.

In the two weeks since the elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has not released results of the presidential vote, which pitted Mr. Mugabe against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

In a simultaneous election for Parliament, Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) was defeated. Using a compilation of results issued at each polling station, Mr. Tsvangirai last week claimed to have won the presidency.

In Johannesburg yesterday, MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said his country was technically without a head of state.

"In reality, President Mugabe is a caretaker president. There is an illegitimate government in place in Zimbabwe," he told journalists. Mr. Mugabe's term expired at midnight March 28.

Mr. Biti said the MDC would not take part in presidential runoff, which has been suggested by ministers close to Mr. Mugabe.

"The result of the election is clear and we are just waiting for them to be published," he said.

Under law, the ZEC — whose members are appointed by Mr. Mugabe — was required to publish a final tally within seven days, and no reason has been given for the delay, although analysts say it is a stalling tactic to keep Mr. Mugabe in power.

Regional leaders are to meet in Lusaka tomorrow to discuss the crisis, and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who will host the summit, has confirmed that Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai had been invited. The Associated Press reported from Harare that both men will attend the meeting.

In South Africa, the issue has raised tensions between President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, who in December took over as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Although Mr. Mbeki has been criticized for his policy of "quiet diplomacy" toward Zimbabwe, Mr. Zuma, backed by the Congress of South African Trade Unions has taken a tougher line.

Mr. Zuma had lunch Monday with Mr. Tsvangirai in Johannesburg and called for the delayed results to be released. In addition, Mr. Tsvangirai met last night in Pretoria with Mr. Mbeki.

Moreover, while Mr. Mbeki's government last night issued a softly worded statement on how the Lusaka meeting might "assist the people of Zimbabwe to address their political and economic challenges," the ANC repeated Mr. Zuma's demand for an end to delays by the ZEC and called for disputes to be settled, "through the appropriate legal channels," a reference to the new wave of state-sponsored violence.